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i dont understand why they had to kill the crocodile? its not his fault some dummy stuffed him into a duffel bag and put him on a plane. at first i thought the crock killed the 19 people, i bet the croc was just as frightened as the people! guess the security is a bit lax at airports in the congo??? didnt have to put that duffel bag thru the x-ray scan... lol?

(Sbm)
Balance in a small plane is far more important than in a large plane. This was a small plane, and say each passenger weighed 150 lbs; that's close to 3000 pounds moving at one time. That can create massive issues with air flow over the wings (or "lift"), and if they already were in a descent, that would not allow the pilot time to recover.

Now, in a large plane, 3000 pounds moving around isn't really going to cause a lot of issues; the engines weigh more than that, and ballast is created. But with a small plane, yeah, it can cause it to crash.

And even in a large plane, a load shift can cause serious issues. However, in a large plane, the load has to also be proportionately large, and the shift has to be significant, before it can cause lift/flight problems.

People always want to slaughter any wildlife that actually has the nerve to act....wild. Imagine, a croc that did not want to be confined to some idiots luggage!? They should have returned the animal to his natural habitat.

Says the croc was found as rescuers sifted through the wreckage. Maybe they were threatened by the croc or maybe croc was making a meal of the remains of a crash victim.

As for plane being unbalanced, didn't it say the flight attendant ran toward the cockpit and the passengers followed? That makes me think the nose of the plane would dip and they would fly straight into the ground.

(Sbm)
Balance in a small plane is far more important than in a large plane. This was a small plane, and say each passenger weighed 150 lbs; that's close to 3000 pounds moving at one time. That can create massive issues with air flow over the wings (or "lift"), and if they already were in a descent, that would not allow the pilot time to recover.

Now, in a large plane, 3000 pounds moving around isn't really going to cause a lot of issues; the engines weigh more than that, and ballast is created. But with a small plane, yeah, it can cause it to crash.

And even in a large plane, a load shift can cause serious issues. However, in a large plane, the load has to also be proportionately large, and the shift has to be significant, before it can cause lift/flight problems.

God rest the 19 who died...and the croc.

Best-
Herding Cats

Twenty-some years ago, I was flying home from Chicago with my husband and son. Don't remember the aircraft, Boeing 7-something-7, I think. There weren't many passengers, and our assigned seats were in the rear. The flight attendants asked all the passengers to sit in the middle to "balance the plane". I thought they must be kidding, that it's just more convenient for the FA's if the passengers are clustered in one area. Nope. My husband gave me a quick lesson on aviation physics. Who knew?

Such a terrible accident. A tragic, senseless loss of life for the folks who died and the croc who was a victim himself.